Autonomous spectrum battle management system integrated on unmanned aircraft

L3Harris Technologies and Shield AI have completed the first live flight demonstration of the Distributed Spectrum Collaboration and Operations (DiSCO) ecosystem integrated with Hivemind mission-autonomy software. The flight test demonstrated the ability of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to autonomously detect, analyze, and bypass electromagnetic threats on a live range without human intervention.

Operational Challenges in Electronic Warfare
Tactical military environments require rapid detection and mitigation of electromagnetic threats. Manual spectrum analysis and manual flight rerouting introduce critical operational latency, increasing the vulnerability of unmanned platforms.

To address these complexities, the cooperation leverages L3Harris’s expertise in electronic warfare hardware alongside Shield AI’s autonomous flight software. Combining these technologies enables a decentralized system capable of executing real-time threat analysis and autonomous navigation adjustments at the tactical edge.

Software-Defined Payload and Autonomous Control
The technical solution integrates the software-defined Deceptor electronic warfare payload and the DiSCO battle management system with the Hivemind autonomy platform.

Within this system architecture, the Deceptor payload senses and characterizes unknown spectrum threats in real time. The DiSCO system processes this sensory threat data and transmits the coordinates to the Hivemind software. Operating onboard the L3Harris Green Wolf UAS, the autonomy software recalculates flight profiles to guide subsequent unmanned platforms through safe operating zones. This edge-computed loop minimizes the latency of sending data back to central command and reduces reliance on external digital infrastructure.

Flight Demonstration and Modular Architecture
The physical deployment occurred using a Green Wolf launched effects platform equipped with electronic attack and detection capabilities. During the live-flight scenario, the networked UAS validated the integration of sensor-to-decision algorithms under operational conditions.

The platforms utilize an open architecture interface, allowing the spectrum battle management software to pass threat-intensity maps directly to the flight controller. This modular design ensures the autonomous electronic warfare suite can be scaled across different unmanned aerial platforms and integrated into existing tactical networks without requiring proprietary hardware re-engineering.

Edited by Evgeny Churilov, Induportals Media - Adapted by AI.

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